Warning: This story contains content that some readers may find distressing.
Two Hamilton parents are distraught after their six-year-old autistic son was attacked on a school shuttle service leaving him unable to open his eyes due to the horrific injuries he received.
The boy was being dropped home by a specialised school transport assistant (SESTA) when a fellow student aged 17 allegedly attacked him.
The child's mother Imy described the moment she saw her son covered in blood to Melissa Chan-Green on AM.
"The school bus pulled in our driveway and I immediately saw that something was not right," Imy said.
"The driver turned off his engine and he opened the door himself. Right away I saw my son. He was bleeding, there was bruising on both his eyes and also scratches on his face.
"What I saw was just the fear in his eyes."
The parents understood their son was attacked by a 17-year-old boy, who is also autistic, as the teenager went to get off the bus at his stop. The parents were told it took the driver and the mother of the 17-year-old some time to get the boy off her son.
The incident left their son unable to open his eyes due to the injuries he sustained.
The shuttle operator Cross Country Rentals confirm the unfortunate incident took place as one of our students was getting out of the vehicle, Director James Snelgrove said in a statement.
"It is incredibly rare for something like this to happen as we have protocols and processes in place to ensure the safe transport of our students and for our drivers," Snelgrove said.
Ministry of Education group manager for school transport James Meffan said in a statement the alleged attacker has been stood down while an investigation into the incident is underway.
"We are very sorry that a student has been allegedly assaulted on one of our Specialised School Transport Assistance (SESTA) services. The students were travelling on a van which regularly carries eight students daily."
But the young boy's dad, Erwine, said an aide needs to be provided to prevent incidents like this from occurring again.
"The driver couldn't prevent this one from happening when he is driving himself," he said.
He said someone should be present on the shuttle to assist the driver when these types of behaviours occur or if there is a sudden medical emergency.
Patricia Avenue School, where the two students attend, said in a statement while having an escort on SETA vehicles would support the safety needs of the passengers, funding it isn't up to the individual school.
"An escort on SESTA transport would be supportive to the safety needs associated with travel for some of the children and young people for whom the service is designed to support, however, providing escorts on SETA vehicles is not within the scope of the current Ministry of Education contracts," principal Andrea Neil and board chair Lathan Awesome said in a statement.
Adult supervision on SESTA services isn't provided because students are accessed before they're accepted for the SESTA programme to determine if they are able travel with other students, the Education Ministry said.
"If they are identified as having behaviour that poses a risk to themselves or others, then we look at other options to get them to school and back. We may decide that it’s best for them to be transported by a driver without any other passengers.," Meffan said.
Meffan said the student who allegedly committed the assault has been travelling on a shared SESTA service for more than three years without any previous incidents.
As for the six-year-old boy, Imy said he is feeling better and was happy to return to school.
"He is doing well and he is recovering well," she said.
